I Need To Protect My Heart!

Decades ago, I started work. Years later we all found out, that money is given as a reward for certain years worked. Then after many years it was changed from money to shop vouchers.

One day at work, my manager told us all, “We urgently need volunteers to go and work at another site, they are in dire need.” I said, “I will go.” I left the main site where I had worked for many years and went and worked there. I worked at the second site for a year then I went back to my main site.

When it was time for me to get my money at the milestone of years I’d worked for the Company, I was informed, “As you left, the main site, you have gone back to day ONE of working for the Company!” I was livid!! I said, “It is the same Company, I only went to the other site to help out, as they had asked for help through our manager.”

Over the years, I saw other work colleagues, get their hundreds of pounds and many hundreds in vouchers, while I was passed by.

It hurt, I lost heart, I worked well, like I usually do, but inside, they had broken me. I had emailed the Director of the Company. My name was known my him and those just under him too. I was just a small fry, helpless and hopeless. Those who worked with me, felt for me, and wanted the best for me, but they knew there was nothing they could do. One lovely colleague when she got her hundreds of pounds sent me £10 in the post, she said, “This is for you, for the way they have treated you.” It was SO nice of her, but I wanted her to spend all her well-earned money on herself. Her kind gesture, brought a tear to my eyes.

Even on my wage slips, it showed that I have worked for the Company for less than one year! It was crazy, more than crazy! So, if I was to apply for a mortgage, or car finance, and they were to ask to see my wage slips to prove that I have worked decades for the same Company, they would not have believed me that I had been working a Very long time!

My manager who had told me, “Do not contact the Director again!” In fact, because of me, his email was no longer available!

I’m not called Maxine for nothing! Because of me, the trailblazer, hundreds in the whole Company have been helped, with their wages! The Union on my behalf had taken the Company to court, but just before We went to Court, the Company decided to give me my owed money, and the money on a regular basis, and thus hundreds too like me, all benefited, in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales! That had happened when I was at the first site, the second site was where I had worked at, where my manager had told me “Not to contact the Director again!” The third site was where I went to help out for one year. I still help out at the third site, and have done so for about 15 years now, but it is completely on my terms, that is the time I start and finish and two days a month!

One day, I said to my manager where I worked at the second site, “I have been to this event, I have been to that Town, I have done training in Blackpool, I have arranged this and that, you even know it was me who took the Company to Court!” I wasn’t working there at the time, but she and the other managers knew my name and that it was me, for they all had to learn how to give their co-workers the money.

I said to her, “So, does none of these decades of my past, count for nothing? Does none of it exist?” I went on, “On my wage slips, it states that I work for the Company less than a year, that is 100% wrong.” It was nuts really, as I’d worked for the Company way longer that she had. And working with her, over the years we had gotten to know each other, and respect each other, and she said to me, “Leave it with me, I will get this sorted!” I replied, “Thank you.”

She was true to her word, while my emails and phone calls to HR and Finance, was unable to change my fate, my manager did it! years was added to my wage slips, in one month. I love my manager, indeed at all three sites I have seen many mangers come and go, and loved each one. In my unique way I called them, Manager 1, Manager 2 and Manager 3. One day in the car park I was leaving work and I was pleased to see them all in one car, and I said, “Hello Manager 1, Manager 2 and Manager 3,” They all smiled back at me, for at one point, I worked at all three sites in a year. It was weird answering the phones, for I had to pause, to think where I was, before I picked up the phone, so as not to say the wrong site name. But it was fun, it was interesting, and I would say, “What happens here, stays here, it will not be passed on to the other sites.” I am famous for been very confidential.

Over the many decades, I have seen many people leave, some good, some bad. It is always sad when a nice person leave, but thanks to social media and WhatsApp we have kept in touch.

This year was a huge milestone in my work life. I had mentioned it to my young manager and the month. Inside I was dejected, but this never affected my work ethic. I still gave 100%.

I had refused to have the modern, new, work app on my mobile. One day, I looked on my emails, something I don’t do very often, and to my surprise, there it was, from the Company, wishing me a, “Happy work Birthday!” My name was on the certificate and the correct years worked and how much money I was given! I was gobsmacked, thankful, grateful, and very happy, I took a picture of it, and sent it to some friends, family, and work mates. They were thrilled with me, and for me.

When I went to work and saw my manager, he said, “I had asked the Company for your money and they had said, “No.” He went on, “So I was very surprised, when you sent me your text, that you got the money.” I thanked him, he is such a lovely manager. We get on extremely well together. I would do anything to please him. If someone phones in sick, and he rings me to ask, “Can you come in and cover?” I will say, “Yes.” We have a great deal of respect for each other, he is young enough to be my son, but we get on SO well, we get the jobs done, and we have a laugh. We have the same sense of humour. We are opposites. If we didn’t work together, outside our paths would never meet. But because we work together and know each other very well, our work relationship is fantastic. There are not many managers that I know, where we send each other a x at the end of our texts or a heart, but that’s what we do each time. I also have a pet name given to me from site one, he found out about it, and sometimes call me by it, or in a text. The colleagues from site one always call me by this pet name or in a text, it’s lovely.

I was just sent this quote in a text, from a lovely work mate, that I am working with tomorrow:-

People don’t talk about it enough, but the bond you build with co-workers is something rare. Some of the best people I’ve every met, I met at work.

How wonderful is that! We work, such long hours with our co-workers, sometimes we see them more than we see our families.

I said to my manager, “Is it possible I could have the money in cash, as I have a workman that will be doing three days work?” He downloaded, not the app but the voucher app onto my phone, and he tried to see if he could get it to be turned into cash, as he is fantastic with computers, but he could not. On this rewards app was the amount of money I was given, and the long list of shops and things I could use the money for. I was sad that I could not use the large amount of money to pay the work man but was still very happy that I had all this amount to spend. My manager said, “Use it to go to the theatre,” But that’s not me, I would see that as a waste of money, and I would not see it as a treat. My manager goes to the theatre a lot. What I decide to do, was to look at all the shops that were now available to me. I chose four.

I chose Marks and Spencer’s; I will buy 2 bras from there. I chose Halfords, Paul has been saying for years, “You need a camera for the front of your car and the back,” I will do that. I will probably buy us a new microwave from Tesco, and finally I will buy one, two or three things from TKMaxx!!! Now, that would be My Treat!

The only problem with the last shop is, I have not shopped there since January, I had proudly broken the hold, that it had on me. Really there was nothing that I needed from that shop. But it was a reward for all the many years I had worked there. Looking at the list of money given for years worked, mine was not even on the works list! It seems that no one has worked for the Company as long as I have! Maybe that was why they had given me the money. I do intend to buy my manager a gift to thank him, for asking the Company on my behalf.

I went to the first TKMaxx, armed with my money on my phone, and saw nothing. Then yesterday I went to an even bigger one and I had more time; I didn’t see anything that was special enough to break the ‘seal’ of the money. On Friday I will be going on the train to a huge TKMaxx, what I would like is a quirky pair of shoes, ankle boots or sandals, leather of course. It is my day off, and I will take my time and enjoy my time there alone.

Yesterday, going to TKMaxx gave me a buzz, but I had to protect my heart, so as not to waste the voucher. The same for Friday. But at the end of the day, I don’t Need anything from TKMaxx, what I need would have been the cash to pay the workman the hundreds of pounds, to do the work, he is doing for me, on our home improvements. x